The Girl That Floats: Memories of an Iowa Pioneer Girl

"I turned and reached out into the river to fill my little bucket with water, when somehow, I lost my balance and slipped into the rushing, foaming river. I had on my red riding cloak and hood that Mother had made for me out of waterproof material and as I had landed on my back, my cloak held me up so I floated down the river like a log. After this episode the Indians called me "The Girl That Floats."

Mary Ann Maulsby Mills was just a young girl when her family moved west from Indiana to what would soon become Iowa Territory. Years later she recalls in vivid detail the memories from the journey and the life they made in southeastern Iowa in the 1830's and early 1840's.

Her writing gives us a unique and special glimpse into Iowa pioneer life. Although she speaks happily of her childhood in the wilderness of Iowa, it was not without tribulation or difficulty. Life was not easy for pioneers, but her words convey to us her special love for the land in which she now called home.

Mary Ann's journal offers a rare glimpse into a pioneer childhood. Her companions were the Native American children Rolling Thunder and Little Slow Horse from the nearby camp, while the woods were shared with wild neighbors like rattlesnakes and mountain lions. Through her vivid storytelling, Mary Ann transports us to a world we could scarcely imagine, immersing us in the wonders and dangers of an upbringing that was a tapestry of adventure, friendship, and the untamed beauty of the outdoors.

"As I look back through the long years that have passed since then, I can see the place as plain as if it were only yesterday. The little log cabin, the log stable with the rail fence surrounding it and the lodges and wigwams of the Sac and Fox Indians clustered together in the vale below. I have no words to make you understand just how beautiful the scene was. In fact, there is no one but a poet who could describe the place and do it justice."